System and method for discovering managed information technology resources

• US 20040237094A1
• Filed: 05/23/2003
• Published: 11/25/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Murray, Bryan P., Catania, Nicolas, Vambenepe, Guillaume N., Pourheidari, M. Homayoun
• Granted Patent: US 7,984,128 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/328
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A system for managing an information technology (IT) resource comprises a managed object that represents the resource. At least one management interface is associated with the managed object. The management interface is configured with at least one component that represents a management feature for the resource. An attribute associated with the at least one component in the management interface indicates the presence of the management feature to a manager. The system provides a common, consistent facility for accessing management features of resources represented by a managed object configured with one or more management interfaces. The management interfaces allow manager to access information to monitor, audit, and control various aspects of the resources. Managers can also use information in the management interfaces to determine management attributes and relationships among related managed objects.

Claims

1. A system for managing an information technology (IT) resource, comprising:

a managed object that represents the resource;

at least one management interface associated with the managed object, wherein the management interface is configured with at least one component that represents a management feature for the resource; and

an attribute associated with the at least one component in the management interface, wherein the attribute indicates the presence of the management feature to a manager.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one interface includes a component that allows the manager to discover a description of the at least one management interface.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the description describes other management interfaces related to the at least one management interface.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the attribute provides a list of other management interfaces related to the at least one management interface.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one interface includes a component that-allows the manager to discover other managed objects that are related to the managed object.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one interface includes a component that allows the manager to discover other managed objects that have a specified relation to the managed object.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one interface includes a component that allows the manager to discover relationships supported by the at least one management interface.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein the description is implemented in WSDL.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one component that represents the management feature for the resource is a port type.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one component that represents the management feature for the resource is a message.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one component that represents the management feature for the resource is an operation.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the description can be accessed by the manager via a discovery agency.

13. A computer product comprising:

a managed object executable on a computer processor;

a management interface associated with the managed object, wherein the management interface represents a management feature available for a resource;

an attribute to indicate to a manager that the management interface represents the management feature; and

an access attribute associated with the management interface.

14. The computer product of claim 13, wherein the access attribute is used to allow managers with a specified authorization level to use the management feature.

15. The computer product of claim 13, wherein the management interface allows the manager to monitor events related to the resource.

16. The computer product of claim 13, wherein the management interface allows the manager to request information regarding the resource.

17. The computer product of claim 13, wherein the management interface allows the manager to determine other managed objects related to the managed object.

18. The computer product of claim 13, wherein the management interface includes a component that allows the manager to discover a description of the at least one management interface, and the description describes other management interfaces related to the management interface.

19. The computer product of claim 18, wherein a port type represents the management feature

20. The computer product of claim 13, wherein the management feature for the resource is a message.

21. The computer product of claim 13, wherein the management feature is an operation.

22. The computer product of claim 13, wherein the description can be accessed by the manager via a discovery agency.

23. A method for managing a plurality of IT resources, comprising:

invoking an identity interface in a managed object, wherein the managed object represents one of the plurality of resources;

determining an identifier for an interface description via the identity interface; and

accessing the interface description to determine management features available for the one of the plurality of resources.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the interface description indicates identifiers of another interface description that defines additional management features available for the one of the plurality of resources.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein the interface description is implemented in WSDL.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising invoking at least one of the management features to determine other managed objects related to the managed object.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

invoking other identity interfaces in the other managed objects, wherein the managed objects represents other of the plurality of resources;

determining other identifiers for interface descriptions corresponding to the other of the plurality of resources via the other identity interfaces; and

accessing the interface descriptions to determine management features available for the other of the plurality of resources.

28. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

querying an attribute associated with definitions of the management features in the interface description to determine other management features available for the resource.

29. The method of claim 23, wherein the interface description includes port types to represent at least a portion of the management features.

30. The method of claim 23, wherein the interface description defines messages that can be exchanged with the manager.

31. The method of claim 23, wherein at least one of the management features is an operation.

32. An apparatus for managing an IT resource, comprising:

means for invoking an identity interface in a managed object, wherein the managed object represents the resource;

means for determining an identifier for an interface description via the identity interface; and

means for accessing the interface description to determine management features available for the resource.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, further comprising:

means for determining other identifiers for interface descriptions corresponding to other resources via the other identity interfaces; and

means for accessing the interface descriptions to determine management features available for the other resources.

34. The apparatus of claim 32, further comprising:

means for querying an attribute associated with definitions of the management features in the interface description to determine other management features available for the resource.